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The effects of variable nutrient additions on a pond mesocosm community

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Abstract

The effects of nutrient additions on aquatic systems have been frequently studied. Typically, these studies report an increase in algal biomass and a decrease in species diversity in response to nutrient increases. However, it is not clear why comparable aquatic communities respond differently to nutrient additions of similar magnitudes. We tested the effects of the rate and amount of nutrient load on community structure in 760 l mesocosms; treatments manipulated the total amount of nutrients that entered an aquatic system (small versus large load) and the temporal pattern in which these nutrients entered the system (annually, monthly, or weekly). We found that the effects of the loading rate of nutrients were at least as important as the total amount of the nutrients for several response variables. Although these effects were manifested in several ways, the response to the different rates was most prominent within groups of the primary producers, which showed large shifts in composition and abundance.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to E. Bond and T. Knight for endless assistance in the field and lab, and E. Bond, S. Kalisz, T. Knight, R. Relyea, R. Thum, B. Brown, A. Ellis, and the anonymous reviewers for the helpful comments and discussion that improved this manuscript. This work was supported by University of Pittsburgh, a McKinley Award to J. M. B., and a NSF grant DEB-0108118 to J. M. C. This is contribution Number 228 to the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology.

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  1. Jonathan M. Chase

    Present address: Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Julia M. Butzler & Jonathan M. Chase

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA

    Julia M. Butzler

Authors
  1. Julia M. Butzler
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  2. Jonathan M. Chase
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Correspondence to Julia M. Butzler.

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Handling editor: L. M. Bini

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Butzler, J.M., Chase, J.M. The effects of variable nutrient additions on a pond mesocosm community. Hydrobiologia 617, 65–73 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9443-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9443-8

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